Thomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023

How White Men Have Always Fought – and Thought of Themselves
 
Reflections on the fallacies of Tucker Carlson discourse, what the Right *really* believes, and old-school white elite racism:

https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/how-white-men-have-always-fought

How White Men Have Always Fought – and Thought of Themselves

The fallacies of Tucker Carlson discourse, what the Right *really* believes, and old-school white elite racism

Democracy Americana
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
The latest act in the ongoing “Tucker Carlson’s Texts” drama: On May 2, the New York Times got hold of a message in which Carlson mused about “how white men fight” - or, rather, how they aren’t supposed to fight: 2/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
Let’s leave aside the question of whether or not this specific message really played any significant role in Carlson’s firing: The text is actually interesting – as a window into the mind of the racist white elite. 3/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
It should be read as evidence that while Carlson did not fully buy into Trump’s many conspiracy theories, he absolutely is a true believer in an underlying worldview of white supremacy. The public facade was very much an expression of what was underneath. 4/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
This interpretation stands in contrast to the idea that the public extremism of people like Tucker Carlson is just for show, that it’s all purely a cynical act of opportunist careerism. But I believe we should avoid this kind of “It’s all just an act” fallacy. 5/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
With regards to Carlson’s text, the focus should not be on the hesitation and self-doubt, but on the racist ethics and worldview that is captured in “It’s not how white men fight.” There is nothing fake about the kind of old-school racism that this sentence oozes. 6/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
“It’s not how white men fight” posits a world that consists of white and non-white: The white man is noble – the Trumpers in Tucker’s story are scolded for not living up to the nobility of the white race, for their “dishonorable” brutality which is associated with people of color. 7/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
After all, in this view, “They” are the savages, “We” are not. Obviously, this supposed nobility has never actually resulted in any kind of ethical code of conduct for how the white man has interacted with those who do not reflect his image. 8/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
But Carlson stands in the tradition of white men who have always been obsessed with their own nobility – and worried about being dragged into the mud while subjugating those who they considered savages. 9/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
Every violent racist oppressor has uttered such thoughts: The slave owners in the American South worrying about the terrible, but, as they often claimed, heroic task of having to discipline the human beings they considered property. 10/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
European colonizers mythologizing the burden of the “civilizing mission” that, in their mind, elevated brutal conquest to a benevolent calling; Heinrich Himmler, in 1943, expressing how proud he was of the SS for having “remained decent” through all the genocidal raging. 11/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
This text, rather than being further proof of Carlson not *really* believing the racist demagoguery that was his show’s sole purpose, demonstrates how profoundly the public persona was grounded in a fundamentally racist worldview. 12/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
It’s important to distinguish: Has Carlson displayed a breathtaking level of cynicism, opportunism, and careerism? Yes! That does not mean, however, that he rejects the underlying vision that animates the rightwing political project. 13/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
In general, I don’t think it’s productive to think about the American Right – or any actor’s motivations, really – in terms of opportunism OR ideology, cynicism OR conviction. Ideology circumscribes the realm of opportunity; it defines the boundaries of opportunism. 14/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
To focus on rightwing elites like Tucker Carlson not *really* believing this or that conspiracy theory is to obscure that they are true believers in the underlying “Higher Truth” of the rightwing worldview: That only white conservatives are entitled to rule in America. 15/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
In this, Tucker Carlson is no different than the many powerful Republican elites like Mitch McConnell who, I have no doubt, despise Donald Trump. But all the reasons why they initially united behind him in 2016 still apply. 16/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
They may consider Trump crass or crazy, just as they probably aren’t super comfortable with extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene or with how close the Republican Party has gotten to fascistic militants like the Proud Boys. 17/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
But they certainly don’t consider any of that a dealbreaker. And that’s not just because they are opportunistic, cynical, and power-hungry – although they are all that too, as they understand they can’t win elections or get ratings without the base, and the base loves Trump / Trumpism. 18/
Show threadThomas Zimmer
They also understand that they are pursuing the same political project as the MAGA extremists, fighting to uphold a traditional elite order and white Christian patriarchal rule. Nothing Trump has ever done has betrayed this project or the “Higher Truth” of conservative politics. 19/
May 8, 2023 at 1:37pmIvory for iOS
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
Tucker Carlson is not a man who believes in nothing. Nor is he just a blindly committed ideologue. In him, as in so many others, ideology and opportunism are reinforcing each other in dangerous ways. 20/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
But never doubt that Tucker strongly believes that it is his prerogative, as a wealthy white man, to be at the top. He is committed to fighting for a world in which white elite men like himself get to do as they please. 21/
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
In service of this reactionary project, this “Higher Truth,” any level of cynicism or shameless lying is, according to Tucker Carlson and elite extremists like him, not only justified, but urgently necessary. They will keep escalating.
 
More here: https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/how-white-men-have-always-fought
How White Men Have Always Fought – and Thought of Themselves

The fallacies of Tucker Carlson discourse, what the Right *really* believes, and old-school white elite racism

Democracy Americana
Show threadErika WittekindMay 8, 2023
@tzimmer_history I agree with what you're saying here, but I also think it might be irrelevant. There's no meaningful difference between being racist and spreading racism. If he's willing to promote white supremacy, doing untold damage to people who aren't white, then he's a white supremacist, regardless of what he says in private.
Show threadThomas ZimmerMay 8, 2023
@erikalyn I’m writing extensively in the piece about exactly this.
Show threadErika WittekindMay 8, 2023
@tzimmer_history Ah, I see that now. I hadn't seen the link when I wrote this.
Show threadaresMay 8, 2023

@erikalyn @tzimmer_history

Hard to think of a murderous regime from history that *didn't* exploit public displays of nobility and religious devotion to claim their violence and hate were actually God's gift to the world.

Did they really believe it? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, doesn't really matter.

You can madlibs regimes from Crusaders to ISIS, KKK to NSDAP to modern Republicans.

__________ used Christianity/Islam to legitimize their regime. They claimed to be Christian/Muslim, and they often invoked Christian/Muslim imagery and symbols in their propaganda.

__________ rejected the traditional Christian/Muslim teachings of compassion, charity, and forgiveness, and they replaced them with a message of nationalism, obedience, and violence.

__________ also used Christianity/Islam to justify their persecution of Jews/Muslims/LGBTQ/indigenous. They claimed that Jews/Muslims/LGBTQ/indigenous were a threat to Christianity/Islam, and they used this to justify their mass murder of Jews/Muslims/LGBTQ/indigenous.

Show threadProScience 🇪🇺May 8, 2023

@tzimmer_history
I'd add that his contempt doesn't stop at non-white people:

His love for Putin and contempt for any Ukrainian fighting against this fascist war criminal is also true.